ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Veterans of the Nigerian Army have called for a review of the retirement age of serving personnel.
According to them, this will help to maximise the potential of specialists.
The veterans made the call in a communique issued at the end of the First Quarter Year 2023 Veterans Affairs Seminar/Workshop, in Calabar on Friday.
The communique which was read by Col. Victor Ibeh, Deputy Director, Veterans Affairs Directorate, Army Headquarters, Abuja.
Ibeh noted that the workshop was organised for retired Army personnel and those that are about to retire.
He said also that the participants encouraged the Nigerian Army veterans to build good relationships with their families as part of the pre-retirement plans.
Ibeh also noted that the workshop urged serving personnel to cultivate a savings culture for successful retirement plans.
He added that the veterans were tasked to engage in community services and respect community influencers to earn respect in their respective localities.
He noted that the veterans were urged to form cooperative societies to facilitate access to soft loans.
“Participants of the workshop agreed to the review of the retirement age of service to maximize the potential of specialists.
“The Nigerian Army should sustain the employment of veterans in overall training and other specialised services as a way of tapping from their wealth of experience in support of Nigerian Army training and operations.
“There is the need for the Federal Government to capture veterans’ activities and programmes in its annual budget.
“Serving personnel were advised to relate well with Nigerian Army veterans for mutual collaboration and support military operations,” the communique added.
On his part, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya said that the call for a review of the retirement age of serving personnel would be deliberated upon by the Army hierarchy.
He said that the workshop was held to see how the Armed Forces can use the veterans to assist them in operations and other capacity building.
The Chief of Army Staff who was represented by Maj. Gen. Abubakar Bello, Director, Veterans Affairs Division, Defence Headquarters, Abuja, said “The call for a review of retirement age is a policy issue that would be considered on its merit; it could be, or could not be considered.
“These are issues that are far beyond and a decision cannot be taken at this moment. There is a need for veterans and others to interact that is why we hold this seminar regularly to bridge the gap between serving and retired personnel.
“We are sure that the communique will get the desired attention at the highest level based on its own merit.
“Other considerations will have to come into play like terms and condition of service of personnel and others.
“At this stage, it is immature to come out with any figure for the proposed retirement age.”